Proudly placed atop a high ridge with a sweeping view of the Rappahannock River Valley, Grove Mount was built ca 1797 for Robert Mitchell and his wife, Priscilla Carter Mitchell. Mitchell was a planter, sheriff, and justice of Richmond County. His aristocratic wife was a daughter of Robert (“Councillor”) Carter of Nomini Hall of Westmoreland County, and sister of George Carter of Oatlands in Loudoun County. With its hipped roof and carefully proportioned five-bay façade, the exterior of this frame plantation house maintains the traditional restrained Georgian organization of colonial mansions. The opposite side of Grove Mount departs slightly from the formula with its projecting ell. The similarity of the interior woodwork to that formerly in nearby Menokin, especially the stair railing with its diagonally set balusters, strongly suggests common joiners. On the grounds of Grove Mount are an 18th-century dairy and remnants of an early terraced garden.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Programs
DHR has secured permanent legal protection for over 700 historic places - including 15,000 acres of battlefield lands
DHR has erected 2,532 highway markers in every county and city across Virginia
DHR has registered more than 3,317 individual resources and 613 historic districts
DHR has engaged over 450 students in 3 highway marker contests
DHR has stimulated more than $4.2 billion dollars in private investments related to historic tax credit incentives, revitalizing communities of all sizes throughout Virginia